Five ministers bite dust in Gujarat poll battle

Five ministers in the Gujarat government lost the Assembly polls today to Congress candidates even as the ruling BJP secured a simple majority to retain power in the western state.
Of these, Atmaram Parmar and Chimanbhai Sapariya are Cabinet ministers.
Parmar, a prominent Dalit leader of the BJP, bit the dust against Congress' Pravinbhai Maru in Gadhada (SC) seat in Botad district. Maru scored 69,457 votes against Parmar's 60,033.
Sapariya went down fighting against Congress' Chiragbhai Kalariya in Jamjodhpur constituency.
Kalariya's tally stood at 64,212, while Sapariya ended up clinching 61,694 votes.
Shankar Chaudhary, Keshaji Chauhan, and Shabdsharan Tadvi are the three Ministers of State who failed to retain their respective seats.

Chaudhary lost to Congress' Geniben Thakor. Chaudhary secured 95,673 votes against Thakor's tally of 1,02,328 votes.
Chauhan failed to taste victory by a narrow margin of 972 votes from Deodar constituency. He was defeated by Shivabhai Bhuriya of the Congress. Bhuriya pocketed 80,432 votes against Chauhan's 79,460.
Tadvi was uprooted by Congress' Premsinh Vasava in Nandod (ST) seat. Vasava bagged 81,849 votes and Tadvi 75,520.